Cymraeg

The Experiences of Women in World War One

A collection of information, experiences and photographs recorded by Women's Archive of Wales in 2014-18

A collection of information, experiences and photographs recorded by Women's Archive of Wales in 2014-18

Browse the collection


Sorted by occupation

Jane E Jones

Place of birth: Tan-yr-Allt, Cynwyd

Memorial: War Memorial, Cynwyd, Merionethshire

Notes: Nothing is currently known of Jane E Jones.

Sources: http://www.clwydfhs.org.uk/cofadeiladau/cynwyd_wm.htm,http://1914-1918.invisionzone.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=131503

Reference: WaW0144

Name of Jane E Jones on War Memorial, Cynwyd

War Memorial, Cynwyd

Name of Jane E Jones on War Memorial, Cynwyd


Eunice Thomas

Place of birth: Swansea ?

Memorial: Mynydd Bach Chapel, Swansea, Glamorgan

Notes: Nothing is known of Eunice Thomas, whose name appears on the Roll of Honour in Mynydd Bach Chapel, Swansea (60)

Reference: WaW0162

Record of the war service of Eunice Thomas, on the Roll of Honour of Mynydd Bach chapel, Swansea

Roll of Honour

Record of the war service of Eunice Thomas, on the Roll of Honour of Mynydd Bach chapel, Swansea


Nellie Jones

Place of birth: Angorfa, Holyhead

Memorial: Armenia Chapel, Holyhead, Anglesey

Notes: Nothing is known of Nellie Jones, whose name appears on the Roll of Honour in Armenia Chapel, Caergybi. Sister of Maggie Jones.

Sources: http://www.anglesey.info/holyhead-armenia-chapel-war-memorials.htm

Reference: WaW0166

Record of the war service of Nellie Jones on the Roll of Honour of Armenia Chapel Holyhead

Roll of Honour

Record of the war service of Nellie Jones on the Roll of Honour of Armenia Chapel Holyhead


Maggie Jones

Place of birth: Angorfa, Holyhead

Memorial: Armenia Chapel, Holyhead, Anglesey

Notes: Nothing is known of Maggie Jones, whose name appears on the Roll of Honour in Armenia Chapel, Caergybi. Sister of Nellie Jones

Sources: http://www.anglesey.info/holyhead-armenia-chapel-war-memorials.

Reference: WaW0169

Record of the war service of Maggie Jones, on the Roll of Honour of Armenia Chapel Holyhead

Roll of Honour

Record of the war service of Maggie Jones, on the Roll of Honour of Armenia Chapel Holyhead


Miss Williams (Mrs Fisher)

Place of birth: Abertillery

Notes: Miss Williams, also referred to in press reports as Mrs Fisher, sat at the base of the Abertillery War Memorial during its dedication on 1st December 1926. She was wearing the medals of her three soldier brothers who had been killed in France.

Sources: Angela Gaffney Aftermath: remembering the Great War in Wales University of Wales Press 1998; http://www.britishpathe.com/video/lord-allenby-unveils-abertillery-war-memorial/query/monuments

Reference: WaW0210

Miss Williams at the dedication of Abertillery War Memorial, 1st December 1926.

Abertillery War Memorial

Miss Williams at the dedication of Abertillery War Memorial, 1st December 1926.


Welsh Book of Remembrance /Llyfr Cofio Cenedlaetho

Memorial: The Temple of Peace, Cardiff, Glamorgan

Notes: The Welsh Book of Remembrance was created as a Roll of Honour to accompany the unveiling of the Welsh National War Memorial in Cathays Park, Cardiff, in 1928. It is an attempt to list all those ‘Men and Women of Welsh Blood or Parentage … Who Gave Their Lives in the War 1914 – 1918’. Before the opening of the Temple of Peace in 1938 the book was on display in the National Museum. A number of women are included: the stewardesses Hannah Owen and Louisa Parry who died when RMS Leinster was torpedoed in 1918; members of QMAAC Gertrude Dyer, Jean Roberts, Mary Elizabeth Smith and Lizzie Dora Stephens; and VADs Gladys Maud Jones, Gwynedd Llewellyn, Amy Curtis, Eva Davies, Margaret M Evans, Lilian Jones, Edith Tonkin, Jenny Williams and Frances Sprake Jones QAIMNS.rnIt is not clear why these particular women were chosen for inclusion. This site has the name of many women who could have been included. Additionally Gladys Maud Jones and Gwynedd Llewellyn, despite their names, had no recent connection with Wales.

Sources: http://www.walesforpeace.org/whybookofremembrance.html; https://www.llgc.org.uk/llyfrycofio

Reference: WaW0237

The Welsh Book of Remembrance, containing names of 35,000 service men and women who died during the Great War.

The Welsh Book of Remembrance

The Welsh Book of Remembrance, containing names of 35,000 service men and women who died during the Great War.


Gladys May Snell

Place of birth: Cadoxton, Barry

Notes: Gladys Snell was arrested on 7th May 1919 for the infanticide of her illegitimate 21 month-old son Ieuan Ralph. He had been drowned. She was sent for trial from the magistrates’ court to the Assize Court in Swansea. The jury there could not agree, and she then appeared at the November Assizes, where Gladys, then 19, was found guilty of manslaughter rather than murder. She was sentenced to nine months imprisonment. A number of well-wishers across S Wales, including the Boy Scouts, contributed to a fund to pay for her defence. The full story appears on the front page of the Cambrian Daily News, 25th July 1919.

Reference: WaW0364

Report of the arrest of Gladys May Snell for infanticide. Barry Dock News 9th May 1919.

Newspaper report

Report of the arrest of Gladys May Snell for infanticide. Barry Dock News 9th May 1919.

Letter appealing for defence funds for Gladys Snell. Barry Dock News 16th May 1919.

Newspaper letter

Letter appealing for defence funds for Gladys Snell. Barry Dock News 16th May 1919.


Donations to Gladys May Snell defence fund, Barry Dock News 27th June.

Defence fund accounts

Donations to Gladys May Snell defence fund, Barry Dock News 27th June.

Report of jury’s failure to agree a verdict. Cambria Daily Leader26th July 1919.

Newspaper report

Report of jury’s failure to agree a verdict. Cambria Daily Leader26th July 1919.


Newspaper report of jury’s verdict of manslaughter. Barry Dock News 7th November 1919.

Newspaper report

Newspaper report of jury’s verdict of manslaughter. Barry Dock News 7th November 1919.


Katherine Rosebery Drinkwater (née Jay)

Place of birth: Chippenham

Service: August/Awst 1916 - August/Awst

Death: 1939/12/29, Wrexham, Cause not known

Notes: Katherine Drinkwater, born 1872, was a doctor’s daughter, and had her medical education in London and Liverpool (where she was one of the first women to receive the University’s Diploma of Public Heath). In 1903 she married a GP, widower Dr Harry Drinkwater, and moved to Wrexham. There she became an assistant school medical officer, and also held a position as Assistant Gynaecologist at the Women’s Hospital, Liverpool. In 1916 the Royal Army Medical Corps called for women doctors to volunteer for service in Malta, and Katherine was one of the first group of 22 to go. Life as a woman doctor with the RAMC was not easy. In a letter to the Times in 1918, Dr Jane Walker, President of the Women’s Medical Federation wrote “Although many of the medical women serving in the army not only have a high professional standing in civil practice, but now have a large experience in military hospitals, they rank below the latest joined R.A.M.C. subaltern, and are obliged to take orders from him. When they travel, they travel not as officers, but as ‘soldiers’ wives’”. Katherine had charge of the Military Families Hospital in the Auberge d’Aragon in Valletta, and remained there a year. In 1918 she was awarded the OBE for her work. After her return she continued to work in public health, became a JP, and continued with her husband to win prizes for their West Highland terriers in North Wales shows.

Sources: https://www.maltaramc.com/ladydoc/d/drinkwaterkr.html http://owen.cholerton.org/ref_drs_harry_and_katharine_drinkwater.php

Reference: WaW0435

Katherine had charge of this Military Families Hospital in the former Auberge d’Aragon, in Valletta, Malta.

Photograph

Katherine had charge of this Military Families Hospital in the former Auberge d’Aragon, in Valletta, Malta.

Report of Dr Drinkwater’s imminent return from Malta. Llangollen Advertiser 3rd August 1917

Newspaper report

Report of Dr Drinkwater’s imminent return from Malta. Llangollen Advertiser 3rd August 1917


Katherine Drinkwater’s award of the OBE (right hand column, fifth from the bottom). London Gazette June 7th 1918.

London Gazette

Katherine Drinkwater’s award of the OBE (right hand column, fifth from the bottom). London Gazette June 7th 1918.


Emily Frost Phipps

Place of birth: Devonport

Service: Teacher, activist, barrister

Death: 1943, Heart disease / Clefyd y galon

Notes: Born November 1865 and the daughter of a dockyard coppersmith, Emily Phipps worked her way from pupil teacher to headmistress of Swansea Municipal Girls’ School in 1895. She was an active feminist, boycotting the 1911 census with her partner Clara Neal (and three others, staying in a sea-cave overnight), was President of the National Union of Women Teachers 1915, 1916 and 1917, and was the editor of the Union journal. She promoted professional careers for girls, shocking some in March 1914 by suggesting that they could become dentists. Emily Phipps stood for Parliament, for Chelsea, in the 1918 election, one of only two women in Wales to stand. She later studied for the bar, and became a barrister in 1925.

Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emily_Frost_Phipps

Reference: WaW0247

Emily Phipps in academic dress

Emily Frost Phipps

Emily Phipps in academic dress

Headline to report of Emily Phipps’s speech at  Municipal Secondary Schools Prizegiving, 20th March 1914. Cambrian Daily Leader 21st March 1914rnrn

Newspaper headline

Headline to report of Emily Phipps’s speech at Municipal Secondary Schools Prizegiving, 20th March 1914. Cambrian Daily Leader 21st March 1914rnrn


Report on women candidates’ results in the 1918 General Election. Cambrian News and Merionethshire Standard 3rd January 1919.rn

Newspaper report

Report on women candidates’ results in the 1918 General Election. Cambrian News and Merionethshire Standard 3rd January 1919.rn


Rose Owen

Place of birth: not known

Service: Abortionist

Notes: Rose Owen was brought before the magistrates in Bridgend in August 1919 charged with performing an illegal operation on Elizabeth Williams, a widow. The case was drawn out, because Elizabeth Williams was seriously ill. However she recovered, and the case went to Cardiff Crown Court where Mrs Owen was sentenced to 18 months hard labour. She seems to have been a professional abortionist, as ‘women from the valleys and from Cardiff’ had been seen entering her house, as well as single girls who stayed there.

Reference: WaW0461

Part of the report of Rose Owen’s appearance before the Bridgend magistrates. Glamorgan Gazette 8th August 1919

Newspaper report

Part of the report of Rose Owen’s appearance before the Bridgend magistrates. Glamorgan Gazette 8th August 1919

Part of the report of Rose Owen’s trial and conviction at Cardiff Crown Court. Glamorgan Gazette 21st November 1919

Newspaper report

Part of the report of Rose Owen’s trial and conviction at Cardiff Crown Court. Glamorgan Gazette 21st November 1919



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